For nearly 11 months, the Cicero-North Syracuse softball team waited, with obvious hunger, for another shot at Liverpool.
And when the two bitter rivals got together last Thursday at Gillette Field in their first encounter since last year’s Section III Class AA final, the Northstars got a chance to showcase every part of its skill level in the course of beating the Warriors 9-0.
Coming off its 1-2 showing at the Wendy’s Classic in Ohio, CNS had faced far tougher competition than Liverpool, even though the Warriors were 9-1 and had won a tournament in South Carolina during spring break.
Wasting little time, CNS got two runs off Liverpool pitcher Tiffany Sampere in the bottom of the first inning, then moved the margin to 4-0 with single runs in the third and fifth innings, and capped the show with a five-run sixth inning.
However, that only told part of the story. This game was as much about the way the Northstars’ magnificent left side of the infield — Brittney Lindley at third base, Morgan Nandin at shortstop — conspired to shut down the potent Liverpool attack.
All through the game, Warrior hitters hit the ball hard — and on at least half a dozen occasions, Lindley or Nandin would come up with the hard shots and throw the runners out. Thus, Liverpool got just five hits off Obrist in this non-league contest.
Lindley did much more than wow the fans with her glove. She also reached base twice when hit by Sampere, stole three bases and scored two runs as the Northstars’ adept lead-off hitter.
Brittany Paul led CNS with three RBIs as Nandin, Jessica Phillips, Lucia Meola and Erica Gigliotti also drove in runs. Phillips and Meola were credited with run-scoring doubles.
A day earlier, as Liverpool was beating Corcoran 22-1, CNS had its own one-sided affair at Baldwinsville, beating the Bees 13-4.
Steadily, the Northstars pounded B’ville pitcher Anna Hammill, finishing with 15 hits and runs in five of the first six innings.
Meola finished with four RBIs, as Phillips drove in three runs. Nandin, Gigliotti and Paul each drove in one run, while Lindley banged out the game’s lone triple.
